She Wants You
by Gio Poynter
Summary: One-shot of how Lupin and Tonks fell in love with each other, leading to them finally being together by the end of the Half-Blood Prince book. The behind the scenes of book 6.


**A/N: Hi, guys! This is just a little one-shot showing what happened between Lupin and Tonks in book 6 and how their love developed, since we only saw Harry's point of view of the whole story. This is my first HP fanfic and I really hope you like it :) Please let me know what you think, send me your feedback! Thanks in advance and I'm sorry if there are any grammar mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they're all created by the amazing J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

It was a little after noon and a few members of the Order had gone to the Burrow to have lunch and discuss how they would transport Harry Potter from the Dursley's place. However, Arthur Weasley informed Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shaklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, the ones present that day, that Dumbledore himself said he'd get Harry and take him to the Weasley's house safe and sound.

Putting the topic to rest, the group of friends finished Molly Weasley's delicious meal and then said their goodbyes, promising to be back now and then for a few visits.

Kingsley disapparated quickly, since he had his duty to be with the Prime Minister, but Remus and Tonks walked casually along the Burrow's front yard, side by side.

Since the meetings of the Order had become more frequent, the two of them had started to consider themselves as close friends, being comfortable around each other and with Tonks making Lupin laugh every time she thought he was a bit tense. Of course that had become a constant state for Lupin ever since Sirius died a few months before at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Tonks knew he was grieving and wanted to let him know she was there for him, but the woman still wasn't able to make him talk about the issue and decided to wait until he was ready, even if she didn't know when that was gonna happen.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" She asked him, interested in seeing if he'd like to get a drink with her at the Leaky Cauldron. She really enjoyed being in his presence and talking to him and didn't want that to be restricted only to the Order meetings.

"Uh, actually, I'm gonna go back to the Grimmauld place." He told her, his tone of voice completely normal, but when Tonks looked at him, she realized he had a little bit of a frown between his eyebrows. Lupin was always a master in hiding his emotions, but she knew he didn't like the thought of returning to the place which had lots of memories from Sirius. Remus looked back at the woman and saw the surprising look on her face, after all, he hadn't been there since his best friend died. Realizing she wanted to know why, he explained. "I left a few of my things there."

"Oh, okay." She nodded, looking down at her boots. Then, an idea popped in her head. "I can come with you… If you want, of course."

Realizing they had reached the Burrow's limits, the two of them stopped walking, Tonks looking up at Lupin, waiting for an answer.

"Well, sure… If you'd like." He shrugged.

"It'd be nice." She smiled at him. "Okay. See you tomorrow, then."

"See ya." He looked at her one more time before disapparating.

* * *

Tonks and Lupin met each other at the Grimmauld place the next day and went in the number 12 house without saying anything.

"Wow, there's so much dust already." was Tonks first comment the minute they walked in, running a finger through the frame of the nearest portrait on the wall, looking back at her grey finger, filled with dust. "Ew."

"I'm gonna go get some things upstairs" Lupin told her, heading up the stairs when she nodded.

Tonks started to wander and look around the first floor of the house. A few members of the Order had gone there a few times after Sirius' death, but she and Lupin preferred to go meet them at the Burrow when they could, so the two of them had not gone back to the place ever since the infamous Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Stopping in front of the Black Family tapestry, Tonks made a disgusted face to that family she hated so much, noticing her mother and Sirius' faces removed from it, considered traitors of the blood.

"Ugh." She made a vomit noise when looking at the whole thing. "It's so ugly."

Not realizing she had been standing there for quite a few minutes, Tonks was startled when she heard Lupin's loud footsteps down the stairs.

"That awful thing." He commented, once he caught the woman looking at the tapestry, sitting down on the couch in front of it.

"Couldn't agree more." She said, noticing he put a few things in his pocket and was looking at a picture. "Did you get everything? What's that?"

"I brought this for Sirius when we first made this house as the headquarters of the Order. It doesn't have Pettigrew in it. I figured he'd like it." He showed the picture to Tonks, who sat beside him. In the picture you could see three teenage boys wearing the Gryffindor uniform, huge smiles plastering their faces, since they were clearly back from a Quidditch game. James was in the middle, wearing his quidditch uniform and holding a golden snitch in his right hand, proudly showing it to the camera, while Sirius and Lupin were by his side, red and yellow scarves on their necks, raising their hands up in the air, celebrating Gryffindor's win. It was such a happy picture that even Tonks smiled widely looking at it.

"Well, you don't look a day older." She commented, clearly joking, since Lupin now had lots of grey hairs and wrinkles on his face.

"You're too kind." He laughed, looking back at the picture. "I didn't want to leave this here. It's a good memory."

They both stayed silent for a moment after Lupin put the picture in his pocket, sighing and looking around the living room.

"You okay?" She asked him. Once again, the man had a slight frown between his eyebrows, but quickly turned his expression back to normal before looking at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Remus, I'm a metamorphmagus, I know pretty well about putting up a mask on the exterior to hide your emotions." She told him, seriously. "Your best friend died. It's okay to grieve."

Lupin let out a slight chuckle at her statement, a little voice in his head saying "She's right, you know?", but he decided to let it go.

Looking from his hands back at her, he changed the subject.

"I like your pink hair."

She realized he was changing the subject, but smiled anyway. He was a man who didn't like to show his emotions and she couldn't force him to talk.

"It's better than the purple one, isn't it?" Tonks touched her hair, trying to look at it. "I think purple is not my color, it makes me look a bit sick."

Lupin shrugged, still looking at her.

"I don't know, they all suit you."

Smiling at his words, Tonks didn't even think twice before meeting her lips with his. With her hands on his cheeks, she felt Lupin stiffen his body in surprise, but, soon after, beginning to give in to the kiss, opening his mouth once Tonks deepened it and came closer to him.

But, before his hands made their way to her waist, Lupin quickly backed away, startling her.

"No, w-we can't do this." He shook his head in denial many times, getting up from the couch and away from Tonks like she was something toxic.

"What? What's wrong?" She got up too, confused.

"What's this? What's happening here?" He motioned between the two of them in a harsh way, his voice a little bit angry.

"I-I don't know, I thought…" Tonks frowned, even more confused. She and Lupin had become so close recently that she really thought there was something more going on between them.

"Well, you thought wrong!" He raised his voice, frightening her.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I was wrong. If you don't feel the same way, I… I'll forget this ever happened." She said without looking into his eyes, rushing to get her stuff from the couch and get out of there, embarrassed.

"It's not about feelings, Tonks!" Lupin sighed, his hands on his head, frustrated. "I-I do… I feel the same way."

Tonks stopped in her tracks, looking up at him, in surprise.

"You do?"

"I do, but that doesn't matter!" He exclaimed, trying to explain his point to her. "We can't be together!"

"Well, why not?" She asked, not getting his intense refusal.

Lupin looked at her like she was insane.

"You? With a guy like me?" He opened and closed his mouth, perplexed that she didn't see the clear obstacle between them. "I'm a werewolf, Tonks."

"So?" She raised her eyebrows, still staring at him, waiting for a good enough reason for them not to be together.

"Nobody _dates_ a werewolf, Tonks, it just doesn't happen." Lupin shook his head at her. "What will people think of you? What will your parents think of you?!" He argued, looking at her still confused expression. "Besides, it's not just that. I'm poor, I'm old… I'm thirteen years older than you!"

"Well, I don't care about any of that!" This time, Tonks was the one to raise her voice, annoyed by the stupid argument.

"You should!" He yelled back at her.

Not afraid of his sudden anger, she stepped closer to him, looking into his eyes.

"Remus, this is stupid." She chuckled, even finding it funny. How could any of those reasons he pointed out be an obstacle to them getting together? Who cares about what other people might think? "I _really_ like you."

She raised her hand to touch his, but Lupin quickly snapped it away from her, afraid that if she touched him, he would weaken and get back in his decision.

Looking at her tortured expression, he gathered all his strength to say what he was about to say.

"I said no, Nymphadora."

Hearing those words come out so harshly out of Lupin's mouth was like he had hit her. Without being able to look at him again, she quickly turned her back at him and left the house, banging the door after her and leaving a miserable Lupin standing in the Black's living room.

* * *

At the next meeting of the Order, Tonks and Lupin weren't even able to look at each other, greeting a simple "Hi" when the woman arrived, since she greeted everyone of the members and couldn't simply ignore Lupin in front of everyone. But the awkwardness between the both of them was almost palpable and their friends realized something was off, but didn't know what and didn't say anything about it.

When the meeting was over, Tonks rushed to catch Lupin before he left.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked, decided to let it all go and make things clear to at least not lose his friendship. Being close to Lupin was very important to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm busy." He said, without looking at her and walking away so he could disapparate.

The other meetings went pretty much the same. Lupin was still avoiding Tonks and the woman was feeling miserable, like she had ruined everything. She thought the feeling would pass and she would get over it, but the more she and Lupin were drifted away from each other, the harder the pain hit her. Tonks couldn't eat properly, she couldn't sleep and didn't even have the strength to change her hair color anymore. Her parents had already pointed out she was looking thinner and wondered what was going on, but she pretended she was fine, not knowing what to answer and still hoping the feeling would get better eventually.

But it was when her Patronus changed to a wolf that she realized there was no turning back. She loved Remus Lupin.

* * *

Tonks arrived at the Burrow to deliver some news on what she heard in the Ministry one day when she unexpectedly saw Lupin in the kitchen, stopping in her tracks and feeling her heart constricting in her chest.

She had started to avoid him as well, since seeing him always made the pain burn harder in her heart than when she didn't. So, Tonks always tried her hardest to find an excuse not to attend certain events and dinners she knew he'd be there, but there was no way of knowing he'd be at the Burrow that night, catching her off guard.

"Oh, Tonks! What a great visit!" Molly smiled widely once she saw the girl standing at the kitchen door. "Come in, come in."

"Well, I was on my way off already." Lupin said, getting up from his seat as soon as Tonks walked through the door. "Molly, thanks for the dinner, please let Arthur know I need to talk to him."

"Sure, Remus, but don't you want to stay and wait for him?" Molly frowned, noticing his sudden urge to leave.

"No, I can't, I really need to get going." He said, already heading to the door.

"Okay... Bye, then." She was still a bit confused.

Walking through the door, Lupin nodded to Tonks and walked away, leaving the woman frozen on the floor.

"Are you going to stand there forever, Tonks? Sit, sit." Molly pulled up a chair for her, making her way to the stove. "Would you like some tea?"

"Uhm, sure." Tonks sat down, still a bit mixed up by seeing Lupin.

"It's weird that Remus couldn't stay all of a sudden." Molly commented, her back turned to Tonks as she fiddled her wand to prepare the tea. "I mean, he was chatting with me to pass time until Arthur arrived…"

Without even feeling them coming, Tonks saw two teardrops falling from her face to the wooden table in front of her.

"Here it is, your tea…" The older woman turned and widened her eyes as soon as she saw Tonks crying. "Oh dear, what is it?!"

The girl shut her eyes and put both of her hands on her head, supporting her elbows on the table and letting out a loud sob, not being able to control her crying anymore, the pain feeling too strong in her chest for her to handle.

"Tonks, dear, you can talk to me." Molly put the cup of tea in front of the girl and sat beside her, caressing her arm, a look of deep concern on her face, since she'd never seen Tonks crying that hard before. "What happened?"

"It's stupid, Molly…" Tonks was able to talk between all of her crying, trying her hardest to control the tears from falling, wiping them from her face with the back of her hand. "It's so stupid…"

"Well, if it's making you this upset, it can't be stupid." The woman frowned, still caressing her arm and shoulder to comfort her.

"It's just…" Tonks took a deep breath, looking at Molly sitting beside her and seeing the worry on her face, realizing how much she could trust that woman. Molly Weasley was like a mom to everyone there. "I'm in love, Molly."

Molly's expression changed from worried to amazed in a heartbeat.

"Oh dear, that's amazing! Love is the most powerful and beautiful feeling there is." She smiled widely from ear to ear, even being able to get a smile from Tonks as well whilst wiping away the tears from the girl's cheeks. "But then why are you crying? This should be a happy moment for you."

"I'm in love with Remus." Tonks leaned her head in her hand, turning sideways to see Molly's expression change again, completely understanding the awkwardness between them for the past few weeks.

"Then, what is the matter? He doesn't feel the same way?" She asked.

"No, he does." Tonks nodded, sighing and running her hands through her face and her hair in frustration. "The problem is that Remus is the most stubborn, ridiculous and stupid man I've ever met!"

Suddenly, sadness turned into anger inside Tonks and she had to contain the urge to get up and kick a chair, deciding to lean back and take a deep breath to try and calm down, instead.

"He's convinced we can't be together because he's a werewolf, poor and old and it would look bad for me…" She shook her head as she said those words, finding it unbelievable.

"Well, those are ridiculous reasons!" Molly exclaimed, annoyed at Lupin as well.

"Right?!" Tonks exclaimed even louder, glad that someone agreed with her. "But we had a big fight and now he won't talk to me or even look at me and God…" She sighed, looking back at the woman beside her. "Molly, being away from him is the worst. I don't think I can take this pain anymore." She said, once again tears running down her face. "And there's nothing I can do to change his mind or even change my mind 'cause this feeling for him won't go away… Look."

She flicked her wand and casted her Patronus, the big wolf shining at them in silver light at the other end of the room.

"Oh wow, Tonks…" Molly sighed, amazed at the intensity of Tonks' love for Lupin to change her Patronus like that.

"Anyway…" Tonks put away her wand, seeing the big wolf disappear while she wiped the last tears that stained her face. "There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is wait and see if he changes his mind. And… I don't know, try to move on with my life."

"Sweetie, I'm sure he'll come around, if you just give him some time and talk to him again, he'll see…" Molly began to give her advice, but was interrupted by a knock on the kitchen door, startling the both of them.

It was Dumbledore bringing Harry from the Dursley's and, after briefly greeting the two of them, Tonks decided it was time to go, she had taken too much time of Molly already.

Saying her goodbyes and insisting she couldn't attend the Weasley's dinner with Lupin and Mad-Eye at the weekend, absolutely sure she wouldn't bare to look at Lupin again, the woman went away to, like she had said, try to move on with her life.

* * *

A few weeks later, after the kids had gone back to Hogwarts, Arthur Weasley invited Lupin to have dinner at their place after running into him that day. Bill and Fleur were out that evening, so it would just be the two of them accompanied by Molly.

"Evening, Remus." Molly greeted him, a cold tone in her voice.

"Good evening, Molly." Lupin greeted her back, but she had already turned to the stove, ignoring him. He noticed her unusual behavior, but didn't think much of it, deciding to let it go.

Arthur and Lupin chatted throughout the whole dinner, to which Molly only responded with a few nods of her head or monosyllabic words, confusing both men, who didn't dare to ask her what was going on, afraid she might flip out on them.

But, it was when she was picking up the plates, listening to Lupin laugh out loud at one of Arthur's jokes, that she flipped out on him.

"Oh my God, how can you do that?!" She interrupted them, standing in front of the table with both hands rested on her hips.

"What? Do what, Molly?" Lupin frowned, not understanding why she was shouting at him.

"Molly, dear, what's going on?" Arthur asked as well, surprised at her reaction.

"What's going on, Arthur, is that Tonks is out there suffering because of Remus and he's here in our kitchen table laughing with you!" She exclaimed, pointing at the man.

"Oh…" Lupin sighed, his frown getting even bigger as he looked down, an upset expression on his face. "You talked to her."

Arthur still looked completely lost, looking from Molly to Lupin, not understanding what one thing had to do with the other and why would Tonks be suffering because of him.

"Talked?! The girl was sobbing on my table!" She pointed at the chair Tonks was sitting the other night, at the other end of the table, which was now empty.

Lupin looked to where she was pointing and quickly turned his head, looking out the kitchen window instead, trying not to imagine Tonks crying because of him.

Molly noticed the man wasn't okay either with the whole situation, so she let her arms down and sighed, speaking in a lower voice.

"Remus, I'm sorry, I know this is none of my business, but Tonks… She's miserable." The woman told him, seeing he still looked out the window. "She told me what you said to her, all of your reasons and they're…" She contained herself not to say 'ridiculous'. "They don't matter to her."

"They're valid reasons." He affirmed, still not looking at Molly.

"Remus…" Molly sighed, it was hard convincing him. "Did you know her Patronus changed? It's a wolf now."

"What?" He quickly turned to look at her, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh…!" Arthur exclaimed, finally comprehending what was going on, both Molly and Lupin ignoring him.

"She loves you, Remus. She really does." Molly smiled at him.

For a moment, Molly thought she had convinced him, since the man was quiet for a while, thinking, but then he spoke again.

"Still, it can't happen." He shook his head, determined. Seeing Molly's confused expression, he tried to explain his point. "It'd be too selfish of me to jeopardize her entire future and reputation to be with someone like me just because of my feelings for her." Looking into her eyes, he insisted. "I'm just not enough for Tonks."

"Well, don't you think that's her choice to make?" Molly asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"No, Molly." He shook his head once again. "Tonks is not thinking straight. In fact, she's not thinking at all. She's being irrational and acting by her feelings."

"Sometimes too much rationality is a disadvantage, Remus." Molly pointed out, picking up the rest of the dishes, seeing that conversation wasn't going anywhere. "We need to act with our heart and guts too to balance it out."

Realizing that topic was put to rest with that final statement from Molly, Lupin stayed quiet, sighing and looking down at his lap, trying to convince himself he was making the right decision for the both of them.

* * *

Months passed and the situation of Lupin and Tonks avoiding each other continued. The woman didn't join the group of friends during Christmas and they only met each other briefly at meetings of the Order. Indeed, Lupin realized Molly was right, Tonks looked very much depressed, getting thinner and thinner every time he saw her, her hair looking weak and without the bright colors she loved to change so much. Lupin hated to be the one doing this to her, but he didn't think he had any other choice.

Then, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower happened and they fought together again, side by side like they used to, one movement complementing the other. Fighting together always made both of them feel stronger, like they were safer if the other one was there. It was a very hard to explain connection and, for a moment, they forgot about their issues and just worked together against the Death Eaters.

Once at the hospital wing of Hogwarts after the battle was over, they all felt tired and defeated. Dumbledore was dead, Bill was severely hurt after being bitten by Greyback…

Suddenly, Lupin was caught by surprise when the fact of Fleur staying by Bill's side erupted into a discussion about him and Tonks.

"It's different." Lupin told her after Tonks had compared the situation to what both of them were living. In his head, there was no comparison between Bill's situation and his. Bill wouldn't have to be scared of hurting his wife if, for some reason, he couldn't be away from her during the full moon. It was too dangerous to risk it.

Tonks continued to insist that she didn't care, angry at him. He couldn't look at her as he tried to explain once again why it couldn't happen and why there and then wasn't the right moment to discuss this, Dumbledore had died, after all.

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world." Minerva McGonagall responded him.

Soon after, Hagrid came in and the topic was over, since they had other issues to worry about.

But, even though there were many things in his mind, something stuck with Lupin.

"But she wants you." Arthur had said.

Never, no one had wanted Lupin this much and, even after knowing him and what he was capable of, Tonks still wasn't scared. She still wanted him.

* * *

The days passed after Dumbledore's death and everyone had lots to do, including Lupin. But with everything in his mind, even though he hadn't seen Tonks ever since the night of the battle, he still couldn't stop thinking about her.

He had tried to forget her. They spent all this time, months even, avoiding each other, trying to move on with their lives, but it just wasn't possible. She still felt the same for him and still insisted to be with him, no matter what.

Tonks didn't care about the fact that he was dangerous, or poor or even about what other people might think of them. She just wanted him.

And he wanted her.

Molly had told Lupin that being too rational wasn't always a virtue, sometimes people should listen to their hearts and, in that moment, that was exactly what he was doing.

Arriving at Hogwarts for Dumbledore's funeral, Lupin spotted her, just after the gates, making her way to the rows of chairs set out near the lake, where the funeral would be held.

She was wearing a black dress for the occasion under her grey cloak, but still wore the boots she loved so much, her hair down with the sad color it had been since they fought at the Grimmauld place.

They were early for the funeral, so there wasn't a lot of people there, just a few also making their way to the chairs.

Lupin took a deep breath and, determined, started to walk faster so he could catch her.

"Tonks!" He called her when he was near enough for her to hear.

She stopped walking and turned around, confused, only to get even more surprised when Lupin suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side of the castle, where there weren't any people watching.

"What…?" She questioned once he stopped in front of her, not understanding what was happening.

But, before he could answer, Lupin fiercely grabbed her by the waist and joined their lips. With one hand at her lower back gently bringing her closer to him and the other on the back of her neck, he kissed her without a care in the world, like that was his only goal in mind.

Tonks kissed him back, opening her mouth and letting him deepen the kiss, her arms making their way around his neck, bringing their bodies even closer, like she wanted to end every little space there was between them. She spent too much time away from him and wishing for this moment, she wouldn't waste it.

Only separating their lips when they were out of breath, Lupin and Tonks stayed with their foreheads touched, regaining their breaths and giving in everything they had to that moment, not caring about where they were or who was passing by them.

After a while in silent, enjoying being in each other's arms, Tonks was the first one to talk.

"So, does this mean…?" She looked up to his eyes, her face still close to his, not completing the sentence, since Lupin knew exactly what she was asking.

"Yes. Let's be together." He smiled at her, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

After Dumbledore had died, the only thing in his mind was that this was it. They had no protection anymore. The war was imminent and it was coming faster than they had predicted. There would be an end and they had no idea which side was going to win and who was going to survive it. So, he couldn't just keep himself from being happy in the meantime. _That_ wasn't rational.

Tonks smile grew wider, from ear to ear, and, without even making an effort, her hair suddenly changed to bubblegum pink, her and Lupin's favorite hair color.

"I love you." was the only thing Tonks was able to say, her heart pounding in her chest as she was still wrapped in Lupin's embrace, holding his face in her hands. "So much..."

Lupin smiled, remembering what Molly had said about Tonks' Patronus changing to a wolf. There was no doubt in that. She really loved him.

It was a pure feeling that he had never imagined someone having towards him before. How could a creature so awful, dangerous and ugly like a werewolf be loved?

He had never expected it, never kept his hopes up, keeping in his mind that his goal in life was to help Harry, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix.

And yet, there it was. Love.

He was granted love even if he didn't deserve it.

And God, how he loved this woman as well. She was everything to him and, right now, he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Then, all of a sudden, a feeling of impulse took over him.

The war was coming. Many people were going to die, that was a fact. And he wanted to have it all before it ended. With the woman right in front of him.

Life is too short.

"Marry me." The words left his mouth without him even thinking, his voice sounding almost as if he was begging her.

Lupin had never been reckless, everything in his life was carefully thought over since becoming a werewolf, which had been the most shocking thing to happen in his life. So, added to the sudden loss of his friends, he was terrified of not having hold of the future and not planning every single thing that could happen.

But this was different. They didn't know if there was a future, if they were gonna make it until tomorrow. And even if they did, the only future he could imagine himself in was with her, Nymphadora Tonks.

So, there he was, being reckless. Asking her to marry him. To be with him. _Until death do us part._

And her response didn't come verbally.

Lupin saw the widest smile he had ever seen cross that face before, accompanied by her eyes shining with happiness and even two little teardrops daring to fall from them.

And, with a kiss, a smiling kiss, Remus Lupin knew he had his answer.

She said yes.


End file.
